Med Spa Formation, Licensure, and Operational Compliance: Federal and State Law Strategies for Counsel Advising Aesthetic Medical Businesses

Dr. Kate Dee, Founder | Glow Medispa

Dr. Kate Dee is a physician, author, podcaster, founder, and educator with a background spanning diagnostic imaging, breast cancer medicine, and aesthetic medicine. Raised in New York City, she has built a distinguished career across multiple medical disciplines, ultimately dedicating her focus to education, excellence, and transparency in the medical aesthetics industry. She is passionate about patient and consumer education, helping medical spas operate safely and ethically, and generating broader awareness about the risks and realities of the aesthetic medicine space.

Education & Credentials

• Dr. Dee earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1989 and a Doctor of Medicine in 1994, both from Yale University. She completed her residency in Diagnostic Imaging at the University of Washington, followed by a fellowship in Breast Imaging in 2000 at the University of California, San Francisco.

Recognition & Leadership

• Dr. Dee received Top Doc honors annually beginning in 2010 during her tenure as a breast cancer specialist at the Seattle Breast Center. She is the founder of the Medspa Board, a national organization dedicated to promoting excellence, safety, and transparency by offering certifications for ethically run and owned medical spas.

Professional Involvement

• Dr. Dee is the founder of the Medspa Board, a national certification organization for ethical medical spas. She hosts the Medspa Confidential podcast, which covers risks, rewards, and industry developments in medical aesthetics. She is also the author of Medspa Mayhem: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Secrets of the Aesthetic Industry, available through major book retailers.

Experience

• Dr. Dee spent three years in academics at the University of Washington in Seattle before joining the Seattle Breast Center, where she practiced as a breast cancer specialist for thirteen years. She subsequently transitioned into aesthetic medicine, leveraging her expertise in needle procedures to build a career in medical aesthetics. She has since become a recognized educator, author, and industry voice focused on compliance, safety, and ethical practice within the medical spa industry.

Alex Thiersch, Partner | ByrdAdatto, PLLC

Alex R. Thiersch is a healthcare attorney, entrepreneur, and nationally recognized authority on medical aesthetic compliance and regulation. He is the Founder and Chairman of the American Med Spa Association (AmSpa), the largest trade organization dedicated to medical spas and aesthetic medical practices in the United States and serves as a Partner and Managing Partner of the Chicago office at the law firm ByrdAdatto. His work is focused on advancing legal education, regulatory compliance, and business resources across the medical aesthetics industry.

Education & Credentials

• Alex holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa, earned in 1997, and a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law, earned in 2001. He is admitted to the Illinois State Bar.

Recognition & Leadership

• Alex was selected by Thomson Reuters as an Illinois Super Lawyer for the years 2020 through 2025. He serves as Founder and Director of the American Med Spa Association, which has grown to more than 4,000 members under his leadership and stands as the largest trade organization of its kind in the United States.

Professional Involvement

• Alex is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and serves as Founder and Director of the American Med Spa Association. He hosts the Medical Spa Insider Podcast with AmSpa and lectures throughout the United States and internationally on aesthetic regulations, compliance, and medical spa law. He regularly contributes to industry and consumer publications on medical spa legalities and best practices, and has presented at numerous conferences, including The Medical Spa Show, Vegas Cosmetic Surgery, the Global Aesthetics Conference, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Annual Conference, and the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, among others.

Experience

• Alex is a Partner at ByrdAdatto and serves as Managing Partner of the firm’s Chicago office. His legal practice focuses on the formation, operational compliance, scope of practice, and regulatory matters surrounding the medical aesthetics industry, with a concentration on representing plastic surgeons, medical spas, and aesthetic practices in business and compliance matters. He founded the American Med Spa Association, growing it into the leading legal, regulatory, and business education resource for the aesthetic industry, with more than 4,000 members nationwide.

Eric Plinke, Partner | Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

Eric J. Plinke is a Partner at Dinsmore, based in Columbus, Ohio, and serves as co-chair of the firm’s Health Care Industry practice group. He represents a wide variety of provider entities, including multi-hospital health systems, hospitals, surgery centers, medical practices, and individual providers across a broad range of health care industry and business issues. His practice spans outside general counsel work to transactional and project counsel, with a consistent focus on compliance, regulatory matters, and complex healthcare transactions.

Education & Credentials

• Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hanover College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Toledo College of Law. He is admitted to the Ohio State Bar, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Recognition & Leadership

• Eric has been recognized by Best Lawyers® from 2006 to the present, including “Lawyer of the Year” in Columbus for Health Care Law in 2020, and by Ohio Super Lawyers® from 2007 to the present, including Top 50 Columbus in 2011. He is also recognized by Chambers USA® in Healthcare at Band 4, named a Top Lawyer by Columbus CEO Magazine, and credited as a published author in the Thomson Reuters Health Law Handbook, 2021 Edition.

Professional Involvement

• Eric is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and the Society of Ohio Health Care Attorneys, where he served as President from 2018 to 2019. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and Columbus Bar Association Health Care Law Committees, serves as an Adjunct Professor of Health Care Law at Capital University, and previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Central Ohio Chapter

Experience

• Eric began his career in the Ohio Legislative Service Commission’s Legislative Fellow’s program and subsequently worked as an attorney for the State Medical Board of Ohio. At Dinsmore, his practice covers mergers and acquisitions, physician compensation, joint ventures, compliance program implementation, Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute analysis, HIPAA, scope of practice, telemedicine, credentialing, regulatory investigations, and administrative appeals.

SESSION 1 – Regulatory & Operational Compliance for Med Spas | 1:00pm – 1:40pm

This session examines federal and state regulatory frameworks, HIPAA, OSHA, FDA oversight, and the operational compliance failures most likely to generate significant litigation exposure for attorneys advising aesthetic medical businesses.

BREAK | 1:40pm – 1:50pm

SESSION 2 – Ownership, Corporate Practice of Medicine, and Business Structures | 1:50pm – 2:30pm

This session analyzes legal med spa ownership, CPOM doctrine across strict and permissive states, and how MSO structures can strategically mitigate or dangerously create transactional and regulatory legal risk.

BREAK | 2:30pm – 2:40pm

SESSION 3 – Licensure, Scope of Practice, and Delegation of Medical Aesthetic Services | 2:40pm – 3:20pm

This session addresses which services constitute the practice of medicine, which providers may legally perform aesthetic treatments, and what supervision frameworks attorneys must understand to effectively protect their clients.